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Definition of censor in English:

censor

noun

1An official who examines books, films, news, etc. that are about to be published and suppresses any parts that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

‘the report was approved by the military censors’

‘the movie has been given an adults-only rating by film censors’

‘As a serious cinematic dramatisation of an event that goes to the core of belief of many people in Ireland, this film will have a particular resonance and is likely to be of interest to a wide audience, the film censor's office stated.’

‘We had military censors, not to suppress bad news but to keep damaging news from the enemy.’

‘This necessarily involves engaging with the issues in which Mr Cousins seemingly has no interest: production trends, the size and social composition of cinema audiences and the policies of film censors.’

‘He mentions in his audio commentary that the vampire's death groans were long lost, cut by censors during the film's original theatrical run.’

‘In late 17th century England, people had to get the permission of censors before publishing books.’

‘Because if the truth were to be told by the movies, they would only cut out the long hair, but they would add a whole lot of things they keep out because the film censors make them.’

‘Films that came from Europe were often subjected to the vagaries of individual distributor taste, tastes too often linked to assessments of what might and might not be passed by the film censors.’

‘Avary remains unrepentant, however, despite having to send the film back to the censors four times.’

‘Kelleher was appointed official film censor in 2003 and today he divides his time between Dublin and west Cork, where he lives with his wife and two children.’

‘In The New Yorker, she actually called these six hours of chic ‘fearless,’ as if the film had defied the censors of a police state.’

‘It has caused widespread global controversy, stretching from Catholic groups in Europe and America, to a number of states in India that have also banned the film despite federal censors clearing it for release.’

‘In this case, the higher powers are film censors, whether philistine Senators or the timorous, arbitrary ethicists of the MPAA, valiantly guarding us from ourselves.’

‘Such sentiments of animosity towards the church, the teaching establishment and tradition were excuse enough for the censors to ban the film in its entirety.’

‘During this period, the Ontario Board of Censors was known to be the most liberal of all the provincial boards, and O.J. Silverthorne was the most respected film censor in Canada.’

‘What enraged and confused the censors was the film's approach to that strange netherworld between dreaming and waking states, in which so much unusual activity transpires.’

‘Well, thank you very much, but I don't really want to see images like the ones described anyway, therefore in these circumstances the film censors are right.’

‘When you upset the censors with your films, as you often did, were you trying to push buttons consciously or was it something that was organic, something that was just there in your work?’

‘Warren Beatty, then attending the festival with Bonnie and Clyde, expressed his praise for the film and condemned the censors.’

‘We were sure that the film would pass the censors because the scenes were in line with the story.’

‘If you're thinking of going to the cinema this weekend, the film censors have been busy trying to help you to decide what to watch.’

1.1Psychoanalysis An aspect of the superego which is said to prevent certain ideas and memories from emerging into consciousness.

‘The goal of Freudian dream interpretation is to undo the work of the censor.’

‘The superego, originating in the child through an identification with parents, and in response to social pressures, functions as an internal censor to repress the urges of the id.’

‘Moreover, if dreams were all expressions of repressed infantile impulses, which found an indirect way past the censor, one would expect that the proportion of sleep spent in dreaming would increase with age.’

2(in ancient Rome) either of two magistrates who held censuses and supervised public morals.

‘In most cases, a censor and a chiliarch or centurion from the Imperial Guard were ordered to jointly oversee campaigns to apprehend brigands.’

‘Though everyone knew Carthaginian figs were a successful transplant to Italy; Cato the censor grew them in his garden’

‘The magistracy continued to be controlled by patricians until 351 BC, when Gaius Marcius Rutilus was appointed the first plebeian censor.’